Olympics - U.S. Winter Games award would create challenges for LA, says official

PARK CITY, Utah (Reuters) - Los Angeles would support any American city’s bid to host the 2026 Winter Olympics but having two Olympics in the U.S. two years apart would complicate the marketing of the Los Angeles Games, LA 2028 chairman Casey Wasserman said Tuesday.

Wasserman was speaking at a news conference in Park City, Utah, which along with nearby Salt Lake City, could be a strong contender to host the Games in 2026 or 2030 if it chose to bid.

“There are myriad issues, most of them are commercial,” Wasserman said, adding that those challenges would also apply to the U.S. city hosting the Winter Games and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).

The main concern would be that another U.S. city hosting an Olympics could hurt L.A.’s ability to sell corporate partnerships and infringe on its exclusive rights to use the famous Olympic rings in its marketing.

Wasserman said L.A. would support any U.S. city’s bid but said it would require a great deal of communication between the two cities and the USOC to iron out the details.

“It’s not up for us to decide whether those cities in the United States want to participate but certainly before they formally bid it will require a lot of conversation and a deep understanding of how that would affect us, how that would create challenges and how that might create opportunities,” he said.

He added that Los Angeles would support any U.S. effort to bring the Winter Games back to the country for the first time since Salt Lake City hosted them in 2002.

“Our approach has been that the Olympic Games, whether they be Summer or Winter, are good for American athletes,” Wasserman said.

“Our intent is always to be a good partner to both the United States Olympic Committee and those American athletes.”

The USOC is expected to discuss possible bids for the 2026 Games at its board meeting in October.